FHV Bases and the WAV Trip Mandate (25% Rule)

In short: Every TLC-licensed for-hire base must give people who use wheelchairs "equivalent service." TLC rule 59B-17 offers two ways to do it. Under the trip mandate, at least 25% of a base's trips each year must go to wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs). Under the accessible dispatcher exception, the base works with an approved dispatcher that serves at least 90% of WAV requests in under 10 minutes. For drivers, two things follow: any base can send you trips if you drive a WAV, and nobody may charge a rider more for one.

This guide is for WAV owners and drivers, and for anyone running a base. Rule text is from TLC Rules chapter 59 (updated February 27, 2026).

What the rule requires

Rule 59B-17(c) starts simply: "A Base Owner must provide transportation service to Persons with Disabilities." Then it sets a yearly share of trips that must be "dispatched to and completed by an Accessible Vehicle." The share grew each year:

"Equivalent service"

Rule 59B-17(c)(4) says service for people with disabilities must be equal to everyone else's in: response time, fares, hours and days of service, ability to book ahead, limits based on trip purpose, vehicle types offered, and any other limits on capacity. The fine for breaking this part is $1,000, and an appearance at the hearing is required.

Fines for missing the 25%

The penalty for 59B-17(c)(1) is $50 for each 100 trips the base missed. TLC's own example: a base that dispatched 100,000 trips but only 2,500 to WAVs in the 5% year missed by 2,500 trips and faces a $1,250 fine. If a base does not reach even half of its required share, "the Commission may seek suspension of up to 30 days or revocation."

The two ways to comply

TLC calls them the Trip Mandate and the Central Dispatch Exception (TLC FHV accessibility page).

To become an approved dispatcher, a base must submit a list of at least ten bases owned by others that plan to associate with it, an outreach plan for wheelchair users, and how many WAVs it can dispatch in its first three and six months (59B-17(f)(2)). An associated base must accept WAV requests in the same ways it accepts other requests, such as by phone, app or website (59B-17(f)(8)). TLC's accessibility page lists Uber and Lyft as approved accessible dispatchers that drivers can sign up with.

If you run a base: yearly checks

These points come straight from rule 59B-17(f) and apply to bases that use the exception:

• Send records every month. Associated bases and dispatchers must send TLC, within one week after each month ends, the time each WAV request came in and when it was forwarded, plus all complaints and compliments about accessible service, including driver ratings.
• Stay in good standing with your dispatcher. If you break your agreement with it, the 25% trip rule can apply to you at once, pro-rated.
• If your dispatcher drops you, or TLC ends its approval, you have 30 days to join another approved dispatcher or apply to become one. On the 31st day the 25% rule can apply.
• At renewal, say whether you are still opting into the exception. A base that failed the exception's rules cannot opt in again "except for good cause shown."

Bases that use the trip mandate instead should track their WAV share for each July–June year, not the calendar year.

What it means for WAV owners and drivers

From TLC's owner/driver FAQ:

• You will not only carry wheelchair users. Bases may send any trip to a WAV.
• Any base class can dispatch you. Livery, black car and luxury limousine bases may dispatch trips to any class of FHV if it is a WAV, without a formal agreement. A green cab WAV can take a trip from a black car base.
• No extra charge. "You cannot charge more for WAV trips." Rule 80-17(a)(3) also bans extra charges for transporting a person with a disability, a service animal, or a wheelchair. See can I charge more for a wheelchair accessible trip?.
• No forced WAV purchase. TLC "does not require any current licensee to replace a licensed vehicle with a wheelchair accessible vehicle." Bases decide which vehicles to affiliate. If you cannot agree with your base, you can apply to transfer your affiliation (see FHV base affiliation).
• New licenses are WAV-only. Only WAV owners and drivers in a lease-to-own agreement may apply for a new FHV vehicle license; renewals are not affected. See getting a new FHV license with a WAV.
• Pay. TLC's FHV page says it gives no financial incentives to own or drive FHV WAVs. But TLC's minimum pay for app trips dispatched to an accessible vehicle is higher: $1.601 per mile plus $0.681 per minute from March 1, 2026, against $1.283 per mile for other vehicles (Driver Pay Rates). More in WAV driver pay.

What the trip data shows

TLC's app trip records flag trips where the rider asked for a WAV. From September 2025 to August 2026 there were 47,515 to 69,168 completed WAV-requested app trips a month. That is about 733,800 trips over the 12 months. In our count, about 560,000 of them show the WAV arriving after the request time (most of the rest show an arrival time before the request, which may mean trips booked ahead). For those 560,000 trips, the median time from request to the WAV arriving was 4.8 minutes, and 91.5% had the WAV on scene in under 10 minutes. This covers completed trips only, so it is not a measure of whether any base met the 90% rule, which also counts unfilled requests.

TLC says it now reports, in its online Factbook, how many WAV requests high-volume companies complete and whether they serve 90% in under 10 minutes (2025 Annual Report). More data is on WAV trip requests on Uber and Lyft and wheelchair accessible taxi statistics.

Related questions

• Fees for WAV owners: do WAV owners pay TLC vehicle license fees?
• How bases pass on charges: the per-trip charge plan and congestion surcharge filing for bases and owners
• Everything for accessible-vehicle drivers: WAV drivers hub and the WAV glossary entry